Once you come, please. No, no,
don't. Don't. We have the Lord's Supper.
Turn with me to the book of Luke, chapter 15. Luke 15. Luke chapter 15. Before we begin, let's have a
word of prayer. Our Father, how thankful we are
this evening for this time to be able to assemble ourselves
together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you and
bless and praise your name, Lord, for allowing us to meet together.
Lord, as a body, to assemble with your people, and Lord, to
hear collectively. Lord, what a blessing. I ask
you now, bless the Word, cause us to hear, and forgive us, we
pray, for Christ's sake. Amen. Luke chapter 15 is one parable,
but it's made up of three parts. There's three sections, three
parts of this parable. And tonight I'd like to look
at the first one. It's in verses 1 to 7. Lord willing,
I'll look at the second part Sunday morning and the third
part, the second service Sunday morning. But I'd like for us
to look for just a few minutes at the subject of a lost sheep
and a seeking Savior. had been invited. Luke 14 verse
1, it says, It came to pass, as he went into the house of
one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day,
they watched him. He was invited to eat a meal
at this very important, I guess you would say, member of society,
and the scripture says while he was there, they took note
of him. But, they didn't take note of
him out of respect. Mark 3, 1-2 says, he entered
again into the synagogue, and there was a man there which had
a withered hand, and they watched him, whether he would heal him
on the Sabbath day that they might accuse him. They were looking
for a reason. I'm going to catch him doing
something. Put an eye on him, just watch
him, just see if he stepped out of line, did something that they
could accuse him of. Well, after the scripture says
he left that house in chapter 14, verses 25 and Verse 26, the scripture says,
And there went great multitudes with him, and he turned and said
unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father,
His mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, yea, His own life also. He cannot be my disciple. As I said not long ago, we were
considering a verse like this. And here is the command of the
Lord for His people. The Lord is first. The Lord is first. There is nothing
that is ahead of Him. There's nothing that takes His
place. There's nothing. He plays second
fiddle to no one or nothing. And He was teaching this group
of people that was following Him. He was talking to them about
faithfulness. Well, as He was talking as he
was teaching. Now we'll pick up in chapter
15 verse 1 here. Another group of people was found
in their midst. It says, then drew near unto
him all the publicans and sinners to hear him. Now these publicans
and sinners. A publican, you know this, was
a tax collector. A Jew that was working for the
Roman government And he was making sure that he got his substantial
cut out of the transaction. In fact, he knew how much he
owed the Roman government, but whatever else he could get, that's
what he got. And they really couldn't do anything
about it. And they were hated. They were
despised. And so there was the publicans and the sinners. Now, the sinners were those people
in the community that were known to have done something that they
were looked down upon. You know, they were the dregs
of society, well, along with the publicans, but they were
looked upon, they've been caught, they've been known to have done
something, and they were just the outcast. He can't believe,
can't believe what he's done. He's a sinner, a sinner, a publican. Well, the scripture says in verse
And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth
sinners, and eateth with them." He receives them and he eats
with them. Now these Pharisees, Pharisees
were those who sought attention. distinction and praise for their
so-called outward observance of religion. They did what they
did to be seen a man. They prided themselves, elevated
themselves above others. You know, they were the ones
that stood out on the street corner and prayed these long
prayers and they did it for show. They did it to be seen of men.
In fact, the root word of Pharisee is the separatist. They were
the ones that had this attitude, you stand by yourself and come
not near to me for I'm holier than thou. I don't want to have
anything to do with you. I'm not going to be known to
be being around a sinner. And the scribes, They were the
teachers and the interpreters of the law. And what they did
when they saw the Lord with these publican sinners, they were the
ones with the Pharisees that had this deduction concerning
the Lord. This man receiveth sinners and
he eateth with them. But now here's the amazing thing.
All these religious bigots, and that's all they were. They were
just bigots. They were just false. They were
fake. They thought themselves to be
so wise in their discernment concerning the Lord and His attitude
toward others that what they said, what they ignorantly said,
was actually true. And it's one of the greatest
thoughts that a believer, a sinner, one that knows himself to be
a sinner can hear. This man receiveth sinners. This man that they're looking
upon, watching and looking for a reason to find fault with him
because he hangs around with the dregs. I mean these people
that are You know, they're not good for anything. And this man
receives them, this man. I thought about that, I looked
at that, this man there, verse 2, this man, God in human flesh. Now you stop, and just for a
moment, think about this. God was made flesh and dwelt
among us and came into this world, the scripture declares, and humbled
himself. He made himself of no reputation. Now, you know, I've heard that
phrase years. I've been in church forever.
Didn't know anything forever. but there and heard it and he
made himself of no reputation. And I stopped the other day and
looked it up to find out what does that mean? He made himself
of no reputation. Here's what it is. He hid his
glory from many. He made himself of no reputation. He wasn't known to the masses
to be the Lord of Glory. They heard who he said he was.
The Jews said he claimed to be. But he made himself of no reputation
and revealed himself to few, few, and hid himself. That's
what it means, to hide himself from many. And here's the reason
that he might redeem his people from their sins. He made himself
of no reputation. This man, this man, and he said
it in such a sneering, arrogant way, you know, just looking down
their noses at him. This man, well, this man right
here. before whom the angels veil their
faces and the devils immediately submit, this man receiveth sinners. Sinners by nature, sinners by
practice, sinners that do nothing but sin. Now this is just the
way we are. Now, if this is not The definition
of a sinner, I don't know what it is. What is a sinner? He is
one that can do nothing but sin. That's all he does. That's all
he does. There is never a time, listen
now, let's just all go ahead and just be honest. There is
no time, Kevin, that we're ever doing anything of ourselves perfectly. Never. We've all come short of
the glory of God. There's nothing in our lives
since conversion, before conversion, yes, but since our conversion
that we've ever done perfectly, wholly before God in ourselves. We're sinners saved by the grace
of God and we will never be elevated in this life above that. So here while they were just
looking down upon him and said, this man receives sinners and
eats with them, what they said was, yes, that was true. They didn't see the truth in
it, but it was true. He who makes sinners to be new
creatures in Christ. regenerates them by grace and
robes them in His righteousness and lifts them from the dunghill
of their hopelessness and makes them to be jewels in the crown
of His glory and mercy. I tell you what, if you're a
sinner, if you're a sinner, If you see yourself, by the grace
of God, to be a sinner, you are a blessed person. Hold your finger.
Turn to Matthew 9. Matthew 9, verse 10. Now this
is... Matthew 9, verse 10. This is a blessed, blessed state. I'm telling you, this world is
filled with self-righteous Pharisees. That's all that man by nature
is, is a self-righteous Pharisee, a separatist. That's why you
say, I'm holier than you are. But you find a sinner. Listen
to what the scriptures have to say concerning a sinner. Matthew
chapter 9 verse 10. It came to pass as Jesus said
it made in the house, behold many publicans and sinners came
and sat down with him and his disciples. I just imagine now,
here He is sitting down, and here are the, I mean, here's
the scum, the scum of the community. And they're coming and they're
sitting down right there with the Lord and His disciples. And
when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, why
eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard
that, He said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that
meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. None are so precious To the Lord
Jesus Christ is those needy sinners, everlastingly loved by Him, chosen
in Him by the Father, sinners for whom He died, sinners saved
by the grace of God, sinners that meet together in His name
and speak of Him often. That is a title that a believer
holds to and admits, and he doesn't glory obviously in that, but
he knows what he is. What are you? I'm a sinner saved
by grace. A sinner that continually calls
upon Him and comes to Him and seeks and knocks and asks at
the door of hope and life. And as I said a moment ago, I
realize I'll never rise above that state. We grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. But I tell you, while
we're growing, I promise you what we're learning. We're learning
more about ourselves. And the older we get, the more
we see the wretchedness of what we are. All of us tonight who know in
mercy and compassion ourselves to be sinners, I'll tell you
this, Christ receives and communes with. Sinners. Sinners. Well, this mixed group of people
stood by, and as they did, the Lord knew. They knew. He knew
what was being said, you know, about Him. And the Lord began
this first part of this parable, and He said this. He spake this
parable unto them, verse 3, saying, What man of you having a hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, does not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until
he find it." Now, let me just open this up to you. The true
church, the elect, the bride of Christ is represented as one
sheep in a hundred. One sheep, a remnant, and I'm
going to show you that in just a minute. A remnant according
to the election of grace. Now I realize it says, what man
of you having a hundred sheep? I know that there's a hundred
sheep in this flock, in this man's flock, in this shepherd's
flock. But I want you to look at verse
7 here. We'll get to it and I'll sum
this up in just a second. Look what verse 7 says about
the 99. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than
over 99 just persons which need no repentance. The 99 that are in this flock
are actually, the scripture reveals, those that in themselves are
just and in themselves need no repentance. They are the pictures
of these Pharisees and scribes that saw themselves to be righteous
They're like that Pharisee that went to church one day and was
praying with himself. That's what Scripture says. He
prayed with himself. That is, he prayed with respect
to himself. He prayed with glory to himself. With no respect. to the Holy
Spirit who helpeth our infirmities with no respect to Christ Jesus
our great High Priest and Mediator before God and no respect unto
the Father to whom the Lord Jesus said that we address our prayers. This self-righteous Pharisee
prayed thus with himself and said, God, I thank Thee that
I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican, this sinner. That is, I have nothing of which
to repent. Scripture says the 99 were those
that had no need of repentance. They were actually wolves in
sheep's clothing. These self-righteous Pharisees
and scribes are the 99. But the Scripture says back in
verse 4, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he lose one
of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after
that which is lost until he find it? Now you remember this, those
ninety-nine Pharisees and scribes, whose are they? Who do they belong
to? They're the Lord's. All souls are mine. The soul of the father, the soul
of the son, the soul that sinneth is going to die. These 99, they're
lumps of clay over which the potter has total authority. They're
vessels of wrath or vessels of honor, but they're all the Lord's. And He does as He will with His
own. If He manifests His wrath, He
has the right to do it. If He manifests His mercy, He
has the right to do it. But all of them are His. But
let me show you something else about them that proves who they
are. The Scripture says, What man
of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, does
not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness? Now let me ask you something.
At what place in the scriptures can we ever find the Lord leaving
or forsaking his people when he said, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. And
for him to leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, in the
wilderness of their separation, in the wilderness of their spiritual
darkness, still believing that they're full in themselves and
have need of nothing. The Lord leaves them. He left them. But for one lost sheep. The scripture says, the shepherd
went after that one sheep. That one sheep that was his and
it was lost. He said, I came to seek and to
save that which was lost. That was his sheep. You say,
well he had 99 others. Let me ask you this. Which one of your kids, Chuck,
would you forsake? Gary, if you were gone, lost,
your dad's got two more. Mom and dad, you got... He had
a lost sheep, and that was his sheep. That was a sheep given
him by the Father. That was a gift in electing grace. And the Father entrusted that
sheep to the shepherd, to the great shepherd of the sheep.
This is one that He has eternally stood for. I will answer for
Him. All that the Father giveth Me
shall come to Me. It is the Father's will that
of all that He's given me, I should lose nothing. You think He's
going to leave that sheep there? He will leave 99 self-righteous
Pharisees and scribes who in themselves have no need of repentance. And He'll go after the one, a
sheep. I've read are the dumbest animals
of all animals. They're the dumbest. They have
no sense of direction. They have no defense. They're
easy prey without a possibility of knowing how to find their
way home. And he goes after it until he
finds it. But let me ask you this. Do you ever think that there's
a possibility that he doesn't know where all his sheep are?
When it says he finds it, he's going to make it known to you
that you've been found. Do you think the Lord ever failed
to know where the woman at the well was, or Zacchaeus, or blind
Bartimaeus? The woman with the issue of blood.
or the Syrophoenician woman. Was there ever a time you think
he failed to know where the woman was going to be caught in the
act of adultery? Do you ever think he failed to
know where she was? No, he knows his sheep. He calls
them by name. He calls them spiritually in
their heart. He gives them a heart and gives
them new ears to hear and they follow him. And he said, I give
them eternal life and they'll never perish. I have come to
save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And for all whom He
came, He finds. Why? Because the Father's counsel
demands it. The Lord said, My counsel shall
stand. And Scripture says in verse 5,
And when he hath found it, he laith it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. When he finds
it, lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And Scripture says,
when he cometh home. He brings that sheep. Hold your
place here. Look at Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel 34.
Ezekiel 34 verse 11 to 15. For thus saith the Lord God,
behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them
out. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all
places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And
I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the
countries and will bring them to their own land and feed them
upon the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the
inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture,
and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There shall they lie in a good
fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains
of Israel. I will feed my flock. I will cause them to lie down,
saith the Lord. I will bring them, he said. I will carry them. I'll carry
them. Let me ask you this. Is it not
the most comforting thing to realize that He carries us? He carries us. I don't have the
sense to know what to do. I don't have sense enough where
to go. The thought of Him carrying me
wherever He goes is right. What He does is good. He said, I will bring them. I'll find them. I'll bring them. And to think about the joy that
He has in the salvation of His people. Look at verse 7. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. More than
over 99 just persons which need no repentance. Now, I'm going to be real honest with
you. The truth that was just stated in verse 7. I say unto
you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth. More than over 99. That truth
is stated again and Lord willing I'll look at it Sunday morning
in the first service. Look at verse 10, likewise I say unto
you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth. I don't know what to say about
that because the scripture gives no more indication than what
it gives right here. Does that mean that the Lord
Himself rejoices? I know it does. Does it mean
that the angels rejoice? I know it does. I know they desire
to look into these things of redemption, regeneration. It's a mysterious thing to them.
But I'm going to tell you something. I don't know what to say. Verse
10 says, likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence
of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Whether or not glorified saints can see, I don't
know. I don't want to go farther than
scripture reveals. I have no right to do that. But
I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what they know.
I don't know what they behold. I know something about what they
remember. I read that in Revelation 5 last
week. But I don't know, but I can tell
you this. Whenever a lost, elect sheep is found in
regenerating grace, And the scripture reveals that that sheep is enlightened
and regenerated. The scripture says that there's
joy in heaven over that one sinner that repenteth. But in closing, I want to say
this truth about repentance. You know, that is a marvelous
word, repentance. You know it means to change your
mind, to change your mind, to change your heart. And that is
to change your heart concerning how God justifies a sinner, how
a sinner is saved. That's repentance, a change of
mind. I used to think that one was
converted by his exercising his free will and accepting something
that the Lord was wanting him to take if he just would. And
then whenever he did it, then God saved him. Now I know that's
not true because Scripture bears it out that that's not true.
God saves men by grace. He saves them by power, by His
mercy, and then He reveals it to them. But I'll tell you this. Repentance is something that
is not performed by the sinner. Repentance is a gift. It's a God-wrought change of
mind. Repentance is not my act. but it's given to me. A change
mine is a gift from Almighty God. Listen to Acts 11.18, When
they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified
God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance
unto life. Repentance is a change of heart,
but who can change their heart? When the heart is changed, when
the new mind is given in regenerating grace, that's repentance. That's the change of heart. Acts
5.31, speaking of the Lord Jesus, declares He's exalted a prince
and a savior for to give repentance to Israel, spiritual Israel,
and forgiveness of sin. So, therefore, what the Lord
gives can never be attributed to man. Repentance is not something
that we do. I know what we think. We think,
well, I'm going to repent. I'm going to straighten up and
fly right and stuff. That's not repentance. Repentance is a changed
mind by the power of the Holy Spirit. A man is given. I know whenever we preach the
truth And we tell men what God has to say concerning Almighty
God saving His elect and calling them out of darkness and saving
them in spite of themselves. And when they didn't even know
what was going on, God came to them and revealed to them Himself. I know what the world says. They
mock and they laugh and they scorn and they tell you that's
ridiculous. But I'll tell you this, when
Almighty God calls out one of His own, there's joy in heaven.
over one sinner that God has granted repentance. I pray the
Lord be pleased to do so tonight. I pray that God be pleased to
call out his people and grant repentance and forgiveness of
sins for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and for the good
of that saint. Amen.